Is it really cheaper to bake from scratch?

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Have you ever stood in the middle of a grocery store aisle, eye-balling a row of alluring boxed foods, and wondered, Is it really cheaper to bake from scratch?

Ready-made mixes are smartly packaged in such a way that they almost seem homemade… “made with real blueberries!” and “9 servings of whole grains!”. Sometimes, we busy cooks have to wonder if it’s honestly worth our time and effort to skip the boxes and cans, and head for the raw ingredients, instead.

While I’ve always enjoyed cooking and baking from scratch, I’d never really counted the cost until I compiled a recipe eBook, Wholesome Mixes, a few years ago. I did a little homework and was amazed at what I found:

{The following prices are based upon the cost of ingredients at the time of the ebook publication; I used organic, whole wheat pastry flour and other natural ingredients in the mixes.}

It costs only 78-cents to make your own Blueberry Bread or Muffin mix… compare that to over $2 a box for store-bought Blueberry Muffin mix!

Did you know it will cost you a mere 41-cents to prepare a homemade Yellow Cake mix from scratch? It’s more than twice that much if you purchase a box of Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker cake mix from the grocery store.

The same is true for Chocolate Cake mix, which will cost just over 30-cents to prepare per batch!

Everyone loves a fresh batch of homemade brownies… but did you know you will pay at least $2 a box for store-bought varieties vs. making your own homemade mix for just 39-cents?

For breakfast you can enjoy homemade pancakes for just 24-cents a batch, or you can be a really “big spender” and enjoy oatmeal waffles or homemade biscuits for just 48-cents a batch!

Why not spruce up Sunday dinner with a plate of delicious hot rolls… your homemade mix will cost you just 74-cents per batch to prepare.

I was really SHOCKED at the amount of money saved simply by baking from scratch!

If you honestly crave the convenience of a ready-made mix, try mixing up a few extra batches of your favorite recipe to use when you’re in a hurry. You can still have a quick batch of pancakes or a quick pan of homemade brownies without compromising your health and budget. (If you grind your own grains, try storing your pre-made mixes in the freezer up to a few weeks to preserve freshness.)

Now that our family eats gluten-free and our cost of food preparation has gone up a notch or two, I still consistently find that I save money when I opt for homemade recipes over store-bought mixes. (Shoshanna’s Gluten-free Flour Mix is an absolute life-saver!)

Here are a few of our family’s favorite from-scratch recipes from over the years (you’ll find even more recipes in our Wholesome Mixes ebook):

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Kristy Howard is a pastor’s wife, second-generation homeschooling mom of five, and a passionate believer in friendship, coffee, and quiet time! Kristy writes about motherhood, ministry and life at KristysCottage.com.

I calculated that here (in Canada, where food prices are higher) it costs me about 42 cents per loaf of bread (a batch makes 4 loaves, so $1.68 per batch) from scratch. I can’t buy a loaf of bread for less than $1.49, and homemade tastes much better!

I don’t do a lot of homemade mixes, but I do a LOT of from-scratch bread, and I’ve calculated how much flour, sugar, etc. cost, and I save $2-$3 dollars per loaf of bread compared to the whole wheat/multigrain bread that I had been buying.

I do cook mostly from scratch – I believe it saves me money, I know better what I’m putting into my family’s bodies, and by keeping my pantry stocked with the basics, I can easily create a whole variety of dishes in a pinch.

I think it seems like you spend more to bake from scratch when you have to buy all the separate ingredients rather than just one box. It’s not until you take the time to to think about how far, for instance, a bag of flour goes compared to that one box of cake mix that you realize you are actually saving money, let alone how much.

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Hi there, I’m Kristy…

... pastor's wife, mama of five busy blessings, and second generation homeschooling mom. I write in my spare time, but motherhood is my career. If you’re looking for perfection or fluff, you likely won’t find it here. I’m a straight-forward mama who needs to be real! Get to know me...